Chapter 493: False Hope. (Bonus Chapter)
[Scorpion City]
Ahhh! Ahhh!
The wide road in front of the palace was littered with corpses and blood. Countless bodies lay motionless across the shattered stone road.
Screams and panic filled the air.
The once majestic avenue had turned into a battlefield filled with death and despair.
The common Scorpion Men who had been hastily conscripted were scared into a stupor. Some wanted to flee but found there was no way to escape.
Among them, hunters and brave men confronted the undead soldiers with all their might.
"We can’t continue like this..."
"We are all going to die!"
"I need to go..."
Many cried, trembling as they watched the undead soldiers fight without any regard for their own lives.
No matter how many limbs were severed, the undead continued advancing relentlessly.
The battle had just begun, and hundreds of them had already fallen. Blood flowed across the stone road like small crimson streams.
Ahhh!
A fleeing Scorpion Man stumbled to the ground, cowering in fear.
"I need to get out of here... I need to..."
He continued to whisper, his lips trembling in trepidation. His body refused to obey him as terror completely overwhelmed his mind.
Thud! Thud!
Before he could get back on his feet, he heard heavy footsteps from behind. Turning his head, he saw them, the undead marching toward him with unwavering determination.
"Nooooo!" he screamed and tried to flee.
Terrified, he tripped over his own feet and fell back onto the ground. An undead soldier appeared behind him and thrust its long spear forward.
Puh!
The spear pierced through his back and struck the ground beneath him. The undead withdrew the spear and stabbed repeatedly until the Scorpion Man’s body was riddled with holes.
Bloody holes.
Blood and innards flowed onto the ground, dyeing the road crimson. The horrifying scene caused nearby Scorpion Men to pale in fear.
As for the undead soldier, it had already moved on to its next victim. There was not the slightest pause in its action.
"Fight in groups!"
"Don’t fight alone!"
"Fight in groups!"
One of the remaining Palace Guards shouted as he defended himself against a barrage of attacks. His voice echoed desperately across the battlefield.
He rolled to the side and swung his saber, cutting through the undead soldier’s leg with all his strength.
Thud!
Falling to the ground, the undead struck once again with its spear, but the Palace Guard had already moved, avoiding the attack by an inch.
Back on his feet, he struck decisively, cutting off the undead’s head. The skull flew through the air before crashing heavily onto the bloodstained ground.
Huh! Huh!
He wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and looked across the chaotic battlefield.
Everywhere he looked, his fellow clansmen were falling in droves. Their desperate screams constantly assaulted his ears.
Some lucky ones managed to kill an undead, but compared to the overwhelming number of undead that continued to pour out of the palace, their achievements were insignificant.
For every undead they killed, several more marched onto the battlefield. It was an endless tide that showed no signs of stopping.
They were dying faster than they were killing.
Taking a deep breath, he controlled his emotions and began to shout once again. His voice rang across the battlefield despite the endless screams.
"You can’t fight the undead soldiers alone. Form groups of five immediately."
"Don’t fight alone."
As he continued to shout, the terrified common Scorpion Men began to form smaller groups. They hurried toward one another, desperately searching for anyone willing to fight beside them.
Even though they did not know how to utilize their groups properly, they knew it was their best chance of surviving, so they rushed to form the groups without hesitation.
"Attack together. Don’t attack alone."
"Attack as one."
With his coordination, the chaotic battlefield began to show a semblance of change. The previously scattered scorpion men slowly organized themselves into small squads.
Immediately, the number of undead being destroyed rose sharply, and the number of surviving members of the Scorpion Clan also increased.
Watching this, their confidence returned, and hope bloomed within their hearts. The despair that had nearly consumed them gradually began to fade.
Perhaps, they could return home to their wives and children.
"We can survive this..." an ordinary Scorpion Man shouted, his face filled with a courageous smile.
"Yes... Let’s kill these bastards and show them we are the Scorpion Men!" another shouted, raising his crude axe high into the air.
With the continuous shouts, their morale rose, and the fear they had toward the undead soldiers diminished greatly.
Many stopped trembling, and many stopped trying to flee. More and more groups were formed, further boosting their courage and strengthening their resistance.
Watching the scene, the Palace Guard who had started the transformation could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. For the first time since the battle had begun, he finally saw a glimmer of hope.
"We can do this..." he muttered and turned to search for his next target. His grip around his saber tightened once again.
Just as he prepared to dash forward, every nerve in his body screamed of impending danger. An overwhelming sense of death suddenly enveloped him.
’Where...’ he thought, his eyes wandering across the battlefield in search of the source of danger.
His instincts had never reacted so violently before.
From the sky, an undead Sanguine Vulture descended like an angel of death, its feather blades gleaming with terrifying sharpness beneath the pale moonlight.
Swish!
The moment it appeared, it was gone, vanishing back into the sky as if it had never appeared in the first place.
As for the Palace Guard, his weapon slipped from his hand as he instinctively reached up to clutch his neck.
He gripped it tightly as if he were trying to stop something from coming out. Panic instantly filled his eyes.
Unfortunately, his mere grip could not stop the inevitable. Between his claws, blood slowly streamed downward, staining his hands crimson.
His pupils gradually lost their focus as life rapidly faded from his body. Even until the very end, he still could not understand what had happened.
Thud!
He fell to his knees, his world spinning before everything turned black. His lifeless body collapsed heavily onto the blood soaked ground.
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[AN: This Chapter is sponsored by: Daemoncles]